Tuesday, March 31, 2015

HOLY SCHNIKES! Tommy Boy came out 20 years ago today! Man, does that ever make me feel old. Tommy Boy is one of a handful of films that I can safely say I have seen DOZENS of times (Star Wars, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Pulp Fiction and Happy Gilmore are also on that list), to the point where I know every scene and piece of dialogue by heart. It's also the film that I probably quote the most in my daily life. If somebody has an ache or pain, I whip out "Not 'here', or 'here' so much, but right 'HERE'." If I bump my head or run into something, "That's gonna leave a mark." Someone I now well goes for a handshake, I lay out a "Brothers don't shake hands. Brothers gotta hug." It's not even something I do intentionally, it's just an instantaneous response that comes leaping out of me.

I'm sure a big part of why the film clicked with me was the fact that I was a chubby kid myself, just like the immortal Chris Farley. He, along with John Belushi and John Candy, became a hero to me. Comedy was definitely a defense mechanism against all the fat jokes that came my way from middle school onward, and being able to quote Tommy Boy at any instant was a lifesaver during those sometimes awfully cruel years. For that I will always be in debt to Chris Farley, his partner in crime David Spade, director Pete Segal (who also helmed Anger Management and 50 First Dates with Adam Sandler), and everyone else who helped bring Tommy Boy to the screen.

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES!

____________________

Here are a few of the best scenes and quotes, that are now TWENTY years old...

"We're family, we're going to be doing lots of dumb stuff together."

"The medic gets out and says 'Oh, my God'. New guy is in the corner puking his guts out."

Disney CEO Bob Iger announced at a shareholder meeting today in San Francisco more details and confirmed some long standing rumors regarding the future of the Star Wars franchise and the expanded universe beyond the previously announced, J.J Abrams-helmed Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

The previously announced Gareth Edwards (Godzilla) directed stand-alone project got a name (Rogue One), a writer (Chris Weitz from Disney's Cinderella and About a Boy) and a star (Felicity Jones, fresh off an Oscar nomination for The Theory of Everything). The story will be based on an idea from John Knoll, the chief creative officer at Industrial Light and Magic, who will also serve as an Executive Producer on the project. Rogue One will be the first in "a unique series of big-screen adventures that explores the characters and events beyond the core Star Wars saga" according to StarWars.com. The film starts shooting this summer and will be released December 16th, 2016.

The other big news of the day was the confirmation of the long standing rumor that Looper writer-director Rian Johnson will write and direct Star Wars: Episode VIII, which will continue the story line of The Force Awakens. Johnson is familiar with tackling iconic brands, as he directed three episodes of the beloved series Breaking Bad, winning a Directors Guild Award for the Season Five episode "Fifty-One", as well as directing one of the final and most acclaimed episodes of the series, "Ozymandias", which series creator Vince Gilligan considers to be the series finest hour. Episode VIII will be released on May 26th, 2017, forty years and one day after the very first Star Wars film was released.

No pressure Gareth, Felicity and Rian! The fate of the (Star Wars expanded) universe is in your hands.

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

American Sniper is officially the highest grossing film domestically of 2014. Yep, American Sniper, not the latest Hunger Games, Transformers, Hobbit, Disney or Marvel blockbuster, but an R-Rated War-Drama directed by 84-Year-Old Clint Eastwood about a sniper.
Weird, right?
While this could be seen a victory for non-sequel, non-comic book, non-"expanded universe", non-young adult book franchise filmmaking, it is also kind of depressing that THIS is the film that the North American audience chose to champion. Not that American Sniper is a bad film, it's just not a very good film. It's just a very, very, VERY average movie. Other than Bradley Cooper's superb, physically transforming turn as Chris Kyle, the film is very unimpressive.

Looking down this top ten list, it's mind-blowing that films like Guardians of the Galaxy and The LEGO Movie, films that beg to be seen again and again for their sheer entertainment value, were even remotely threatened by American Sniper at the box office. Not only did American Sniper outperform the biggest tent-pole hits of the year, it lapped the field at the Oscars as well. If you look at the other seven films nominated for Best Picture this year, Sniper outperformed all of them... COMBINED!

Of the eight nominees, Sniper is the only one that I would safely say is not an above average film. Sure The Imitation Game and The Theory of Everything were not especially groundbreaking or life altering cinema experiences, but they certainly offered more in terms of storytelling, appealing lead characters and ensemble acting. If people wanted to celebrate courage and heroism, why not Ava DuVernay's wonderful civil rights drama Selma, featuring a powerhouse performance by David Oyelowo? Way more enthralling than Sniper. You want to see two guys battling it out, why not see the far superior Whiplash starring Miles Teller and Oscar-winner J.K. Simmons? Way more intense. The Grand Budapest Hotel and Birdman? Next level audacity. Boyhood? A modern miracle. All of these films deliver the goods way above and beyond American Sniper.

Again, it's not that American Sniper is bad, it's just that it is so-so. Bradley Cooper? He's solid. The action? Pretty good. Other than that... NADA! There is nothing extraordinary about this film. The storytelling is sloppy, the emotional climax of the film feels tacked on, and if you've seen The Hurt Locker, you've already seen a version of American Sniper that was far superior in almost every conceivable way.

Oh yeah, and nice fake baby...

The other thing that makes this whole thing maddening is how many other brilliant, imaginative, emotional and thrilling films were mostly ignored by movie-going audiences. In fact, if people wanted to see a war film that really delivers an emotional wallop while also working as a solid action picture, they should have seen David Ayer's Fury, starring Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, Jon Bernthal and Michael Pena. While Fury may not stand the test of time alongside films like Apocalypse Now and The Thin Red Line, it sure was more memorable than American Sniper, and even if Fury didn't deserve to be a mega-blockbuster, it certainly makes no sense that American Sniper made FOUR TIMES as much money as it did at the box office. That's pure craziness.

The Oscar-nominated documentary Last Days in Vietnam was another 2014 release that handled the topics of soldiers and war in a far superior fashion, though obviously it was a limited release so it had no chance to rake in big bucks. Overall though, when you add up so many of the other big, medium and small releases from 2014, it is a shame that so many amazing films were overlooked by the general public while American Sniper meanwhile raked in the dough.

Pretty sad, isn't it? SO MANY wonderful films. Obviously many of these films had significantly smaller releases than American Sniper, so they never had a chance to make a big splash. The list just goes to show how many great films came out last year, and how so many of them deserved so much more. Oscar-nominated fare like Wild, Foxcatcher and Inherent Vice. Action packed flicks like John Wick, Snowpiercer and The Guest. Gripping dramas like Nightcrawler, A Most Violent Year and Locke. Independent Spirit Awards favorites like Dear White People, Obvious Child, Land Ho!, The One I Love and Blue Ruin.
The list goes on and on, including films like Chef, Top Five, Begin Again and The Trip to Italy. Fantastic foreign-language films like Ida, Mommy, Force Majeure and Leviathan. Genre-busting films like Under the Skin, Only Lovers Left Alive, The Babadook and A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night. Last but not least, let's throw in Best Documentary Oscar-winner CitizenFour and ALL FIFTEEN of the Oscar-nominated Short Films!
Add up the box office of ALL of these films and they still didn't make as much money domestically as American Sniper. So many poor decisions by movie-goers.

Like I said earlier, it is nice to see a movie that is not geared towards 12-year-old boys and girls take the top spot at the box office. Honestly, it is. It's just too bad 'merica chose THIS particular undeserving & underwhelming film to break through in such a big way. If you haven't seen American Sniper yet, do yourself a favor, go seek out one of these other films instead.____________________

Thursday, March 5, 2015

MTV announced the nominees for their annual movie awards, and surprisingly they are not all that bad. Half of their Movie of the Year candidates carry over from the Oscars Best Picture race, with American Sniper, Boyhood, Selma and Whiplash all making the cut. Interestingly, Oscar winner Birdman was absent from the list. The other half of the Movie of the Year nominations went to more young adult/box office driven fare like The Fault in Our Stars, Gone Girl, Guardians of the Galaxy and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1.

The winners will be chosen by fans who can vote at MovieAwards.MTV.com from now through April 11th. Comedian Amy Schumer will host the awards ceremony, which take place on April 12th.